Austria

IFOUR weeks ago, on the morrow of the Berchtesgaden Agreement, this paper stated bluntly: " Austria's fate is sealed. 'I'his is not an alarmist but a sober conclusion to be drawn from the chief political event of the week."
Last week there was a momentary hope and prayer that this forecast might prove wrong owing to Chancellor Schuschnigg's sudden decision to hold a plebiscite, a decision based upon the evidence of support for Catholic Austria during the days after Berchtesgaden..
The ruthless spirit which operated the third degree in the full face of the world at Berchtesgaden evidently realised how right Schu-sehnigg had been, and its " moral " pressure was instantly converted to the brute force behind the iron fist.
We know the result. Not merely has Austria been incorporated in the Reich as a partner: she has been brutally subjugated to the discipline, culture, philosophy and economies of National Socialism. All that survived of the old Christian Germanic tradition has been destroyed in a day and the banner " In Hitler alone is salvation " floats over the capital of the Emperor.
At the same time it is a mistake to regard the rape of Austria as a mere act of conquest, a victory after a bloodless war. The desire in Austria for union with the Reich was great, more particularly among the younger and more vital part of .the population. The reasons for this and the whole sorry history of the —decline. 'of chriStian G ern ianism and indeed 'Christianity itself as a cultural and social force. are discussed in an adjoining column. And, while no words can fully describe the iniquity in itself of the methods adopted by Hitler and the subsequent brute nazification of Austria (every detail of which has long been prepared), it must also be remembered that Hitler sincerely and not without much reason believed himself to be redressing a long-standing injustice to the German people as a whole rather than annexing another country. This fact, and it is a fact also, renders, let us say, more understandable the method adopted. It also throws a very different light upon the probable consequences to Europe of the coup.
We need not, happily, look forward to so black a future as would have been the case had Hitler imposed his might for purpos of power alone upon an enemy country. Indeed in acknowledging with thankfulness that he has achieved his ends without spilling blood we must also reflect that the restoration of Germany to power has been accomplished throughout in a bloodless fashion.. Human nature is not accustomed to submit to the conqueror without resistance. That Hitler has met with none worth the name is a sign that he must have been as much rectifying a wrong as creating new wrongs.